Memoirs of My Nervous Illness

“Before his illness and incarceration in various mental institutions, Schreber trained as a lawyer and worked as a judge. The clarity and specificity of his descriptions in this book are remarkable: one modern reviewer called it ‘a textbook of psychiatry from the viewpoint of the patient,’ and I think that sums it up well. I think what I take from it, above all, is that the patient’s voice matters: we still read this book in part because of how unusual it is to hear from the person actually experiencing the delusions rather than those trying to treat them.” Read more...

The best books on Hypochondria

Caroline Crampton, Memoirist